MALIBU ORCHID SOCIETY NEWSLETTER Volume XLIV, VI June 2015 MOS Monthly Meeting Tuesday, 7:00pm June 16, 2015 Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club 901 Haverford Avenue Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 “Phragmipedium kovachii and all the Usual Suspects” By Bryce Augustine Upon its discovery 13 years ago in the Ama- zon jungle of North Eastern Peru, Phrag- mipedium kovachii was, and still is, consid- ered to be the most important orchid spe- cies to be found in the last 100 years. In May 2002, self-taught botanist Michael Kovach and his friend Lee Moore traveled to Peru. On May 26 th , Michael arrived in the little town of El Progresso where a person offered him a dazzling phragmipedium. He bought 3 pots for $3.60. That night in their hotel room Moore told Michael, “This is your chance, you’ve got the Holy Grail of orchids!” There ensued a multi-year adventure saga to bring Phragmipedium kovachii to the US, and to begin breeding with it. Despite its colorful and somewhat murky entry into the orchid world, there is still an aura of mystery surrounding this orchid. It has created an exciting buzz in the world of President’s Message : The annual Orchid Digest’s Speakers’ Day will be held at the Ahmanson Classroom in the Botanical Center of the Huntington Li- brary in San Marino on Saturday, June 13. It is an all-day event beginning at 12:30 pm and going on into the early evening with dinner and an after-dinner speaker. Elsewhere in this newsletter you will find the detailed pro- gram of the talks. I would like to give this wonderful annual event a special plug and encourage both beginner and experienced orchid growers to attend. This special Speak- ers’ Day is an excellent way to connect with other orchid enthusiasts and to become bet- ter informed about what is happening in the orchid world, both locally and internation- ally. The speakers at Speakers’ Day are al- ways first-rate experts in their fields, and their presentations are informative and often take you to virtual orchid habitats that you may never have the chance to encounter in person. Also, if you have a special orchid that you would like to have judged by AOS judges, you may bring in the orchid (or orchids) to the Pacific South Judging Center on the same day at the Huntington by 10:00 am. It’s a fun one-day total immersion into orchids with vendors such as Sunset Valley Orchids, Cal Orchid, and Andy’s Orchids selling orchids especially selected for collectors. Your pres- ence also helps support the Orchid Digest’s mission for the purpose of increasing the ap- preciation and improving the culture of or- chids. Hope to see you there this month. Birute Anne Vileisis
Transcript
MALIBU ORCHID SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
Volume XLIV, VI June 2015
MOS Monthly Meeting Tuesday, 7:00pm June 16, 2015 Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club 901 Haverford Avenue Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 “Phragmipedium kovachii and all the Usual Suspects” By Bryce Augustine Upon its discovery 13 years ago in the Ama-zon jungle of North Eastern Peru, Phrag-mipedium kovachii was, and still is, consid-ered to be the most important orchid spe-cies to be found in the last 100 years.
In May 2002, self-taught botanist Michael Kovach and his friend Lee Moore traveled to Peru. On May 26th, Michael arrived in the little town of El Progresso where a person offered him a dazzling phragmipedium. He bought 3 pots for $3.60. That night in their hotel room Moore told Michael, “This is your chance, you’ve got the Holy Grail of orchids!”
There ensued a multi-year adventure saga to bring Phragmipedium kovachii to the US, and to begin breeding with it. Despite its colorful and somewhat murky entry into the orchid world, there is still an aura of mystery surrounding this orchid. It has created an exciting buzz in the world of
President’s Message :
The annual Orchid Digest’s Speakers’ Day will be held at the Ahmanson Classroom in the Botanical Center of the Huntington Li-brary in San Marino on Saturday, June 13. It is an all-day event beginning at 12:30 pm and going on into the early evening with dinner and an after-dinner speaker. Elsewhere in this newsletter you will find the detailed pro-gram of the talks. I would like to give this wonderful annual event a special plug and encourage both beginner and experienced orchid growers to attend. This special Speak-ers’ Day is an excellent way to connect with other orchid enthusiasts and to become bet-ter informed about what is happening in the orchid world, both locally and internation-ally. The speakers at Speakers’ Day are al-ways first-rate experts in their fields, and their presentations are informative and often take you to virtual orchid habitats that you may never have the chance to encounter in person. Also, if you have a special orchid that you would like to have judged by AOS judges, you may bring in the orchid (or orchids) to the Pacific South Judging Center on the same day at the Huntington by 10:00 am. It’s a fun one-day total immersion into orchids with vendors such as Sunset Valley Orchids, Cal Orchid, and Andy’s Orchids selling orchids especially selected for collectors. Your pres-ence also helps support the Orchid Digest’s mission for the purpose of increasing the ap-preciation and improving the culture of or-chids. Hope to see you there this month.
Birute Anne Vileisis
MOS Officers and Directors
Page 2 June 2015
Continued from page 1: orchids. Its enormous-sized flower has Phrag breeders going wild with desire!
Bryce Augustine will discuss more about this intriguing species, its culture, and the amaz-ing hybrids it has produced. Bryce is the owner of Monsoon Flora Orchids in Carpen-teria where he operates his own lab and pro-duces awarded Paphs and Phrags. His pres-entations are always fun and informative. Bryce will be providing plants for our raffle table this month and he will also offer a se-lection of his award-winning plants for sale.
Birute Anne Vileisis
Orchid Search - Link Indexes - Community
The Orchid Mall The Orchid House
BellaOnline Orchids Site - News, information and forum/chat. Susan Taylor, editor
Orchid Source Forum - Popular established orchid forum, many topics
Orchid Board - Friendly and open orchid discussion forum
OrchidTalk Orchid Forum - Orchid Forum discussing Or-chids and all aspects of their culture and related activities.
Orchid Forum - Orchid bulletin board, post your questions here
June 13th: AOS Pacific South Regional Judging 10am. The Huntington Library, Art Col-lections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino. Huntington Botanical Center, Lower Level.
June 13th: Orchid Digest Speaker’s Day. Huntington Gardens Botanical Center, San Marino. $65 ($80 at door) for afternoon Seminars, Wine and Cheese Happy Hour. Info and ticket purchase: www.orchiddigest.org
June 14th: Orchid Digest and the Botanical Illustrators of So Cal. will hold a One Or-chid, One Day workship for all levels of drawing skill, about the illustration of orchids. Carol Woodin is the teacher and is world famous for her illustrations.
June 19th: Orchid Odyssey 10am – 2pm San Diego Zoo. The Zoo’s orchid greenhouse is open to the public.
July 10-11th: Cal Orchid’s Summer Hummer (Friday and Saturday) 1251 Orchid Dr., Santa Barbara Info: www.calorchid.com
July 10, 11 & 12th: 35th Annual Summer Santa Barbara Orchid Estate Open House 8am - 5pm, Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. Features scads of summer blooming Encyclias, Brazilian Laelias, especially Laelia purpurata, Sobralias, and Stanhopeas, $7.50 Specials & more!
July 11th: AOS Pacific South Regional Judging 10am. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino. Huntington Botanical Center, Lower Level.
July 17th: Orchid Odyssey 10am – 2pm San Diego Zoo. The Zoo’s orchid green house is open to the public.
Hand Picking The first line of defense, if a plant is not heavily affected by pests, is to pick bugs, slugs and snails from the plant and squash them. Pests have yet to develop a resistance to this type of control.
Water Pests like mites are usually most severe on plants in heated homes during the winter, when the air is dry and there are no natural enemies to keep them under control. Raising the ambient humidity through humidity trays, saucers of damp pebbles placed under each plant, or even a room humidifier can help.
For mites, aphids, mealybugs and other insects, a gentle brush or jet of water can kill and dis-lodge them from plants. Regularly washing the foliage thoroughly with soapy water, wiping every leaf and rinsing with a sink sprayer is one way to bring populations down.
Soaking is a third way water can be used to combat insects. Completely immerse the pot and potting medium of the affected plant in a bucket of water overnight to evict ants, roaches, sow bugs and pill bugs from the medium.
Rubbing Alcohol Soak a cotton swab in 70 percent isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol and dab scale, mealybugs, mites and aphids off orchids. The alcohol dissolves the insect’s waxy covering, and is a good tool to reach the pests hidden down in the sheaths and leaf crev-ices. Pay particular attention to the midrib, other veins and leaf edges. Repeat the treatment at seven to 10 day inter-vals to remove successive generations.
Another method is to spray alcohol, mixed with a few drops of mild liquid soap, from a misting bottle or small pump sprayer. Avoid strong or excessive amounts of deter-gent, as this may damage your plants, particularly buds and flowers.
Alcohol can be combined with insecticidal soaps, but not with oil, and should never be used near fire. One of the ad-vantages to using alcohol is that insects do not develop re-sistance to the treatments.
Oils, Soaps and Sterilants Horticultural, neem and mineral oils, and insecticidal soaps are generally considered safer for humans, pets and plants than insecticides, and do not generate a resistance in pests. None provide absolute pest con-trol, but frequent applications reduce insect populations to be-low self-sustainable levels in small orchid collections. They are more effective as early treatment — before a few pests have be-come an infestation. Environmentally gentle, these solutions are only effective while they are still wet, and must contact
pests. Horticultural oil solutions (such as SunSpray and neem) smother insects’ breathing pores and eggs, so complete coverage of all sprayed plants is essential. These oils are mixed with water and a plant-safe detergent for enhancing spreading and sticking, and can be used to control mites, scale, aphids, mealybugs, sow bugs and pill bugs.
Because mealybugs' waxy coating repels water-based insecticides, it is necceary to mix a wetting agent in with the insecticide when
spraying.
Insecticidal soaps (Safer) smother pests and dissolve their cuticle (outer covering). For a heavy infestation, the affected plant(s) must be completely covered. They are most effective against soft-bodied pests such as aphids and mealybugs. While considered safe, these soaps may still damage some plants, particularly tender new tissues, especially when mixed with hard water. They can also cause allergies and respiratory problems for users.
Growth regulators and chitin inhibitors offer other options. Growth regulators, such as Enstar, kill eggs and prevent insect maturation in scale, mealybugs, aphids and whitefly. It needs a spreader-sticker (silicon works best) to be effective.
Yet another choice is Orange Guard, a 100-percent biodegradable and water-soluble insecticide
made from orange peel extract that is considered safe for use around humans, pets and food. Orange Guard kills and repels ants and roaches.
Baits Organic mollusk baits such as Sluggo, EscarGo and Worry Free are biodegradable and safe to use around pets and people. Once the baits are eaten, snails and slugs stop feeding and die within a few days.
Pill bugs and sow bugs may be trapped using a half of a cantaloupe or a hollowed-out potato placed upside down as close as possible to where the bugs have been spotted.
When dealing with ants, remember they are attracted to the sugary honeydew excretion of other pest insects, commercially prepared sugar-based ant baits, or a homemade syrup of boric acid powder, sugar and water placed throughout the growing area will draw ants. They will eat the poison and take it back to the queen. This should remove the ant colony within a few days. This option is not safe for use in an area accessible to children or pets.
Repotting Replacing the potting medium can eliminate pests’ eggs and crawlers. Mollusks, ants, sow and pill bugs and even roaches hide in pots, and media that is breaking down not only attracts pests like sow and pill bugs, but is a danger to the overall health of the plant’s root system as well.
When repotting, a close inspection, and if necessary, a very gentle cleaning and spraying of the roots is essential to remove pests such as scale and mealy bugs that can hide on and among roots. To control a severe infestation, it may be necessary to decant the plant, clean the pests from all roots, treat with an appropriate insecticide and repot using a clean pot and mix.
Fiberglass window screening placed over drainage holes inside orchid pots will not only help keep pill bugs, sow bugs and roaches out, but also keeps potting material in the pot. Roots can grow through it without difficulty, it’s nontoxic and it does not affect drainage
Spider mites are so small they may go unno-ticed until their numbers have reached infesta-tion level. Regular inspection of your orchids can catch such probmels when they are still easily controlled.
Insecticides If you decide you must use an insecticide, always check to see that the product has been approved for use on orchids, and strictly adhere to label directions for dosage and safe use. Orchids are tough, but sensitive to many chemicals — advance testing is advised.
Move the plants outdoors for pesticide application whenever possible. Growers who must apply insecticides during inclement weather need special care for applications. If outdoor spraying is not an option, spray plant(s) inside a large plastic bag, remove the bag after the spray has set-tled, and let the plant(s) ventilate where fumes will not travel around the home or work area.
To prepare a homemade insecticide, mix one pint of 409 household cleaner and a pint of rub-bing alcohol with water to make 1 gallon of spray. It is especially effective as a preventative or to control light infestations of mites, mealybugs and aphids.
Pyrethrum, an ingredient in many commercial insect sprays, is a natural insecticide derived from plant sources that attacks insects’ nervous systems. Although it is labeled for use against many orchid pests, it is especially effective against ants when used in conjunction with baits.
When faced with serious infestations, commercial insecticides may be necessary. Among those recommended are malathion or Sevin. Be sure to read the label carefully and follow the manu-facturer’s instructions. If the plants are growing in the home, move them to an area where they can be sprayed without harming pets or family members.
Pest Control Prevention is better than cure; good cultural practices and purchasing healthy plants reduce the chance of disease. The most common way of acquiring pests is purchasing an infested plant. Quarantining any new plant or cutting to enter the growing area for a minimum of two weeks can help curtail the introduction of new pests and diseases.
Meeting the plants’ cultural needs is the best line of defense. Healthy plants are more resistant to pest and disease than their weaker cousins. Maintain a healthy collection by attending to the basic cultural needs of your orchids — water, temperature, light, fertilizer and humidity; keep the bark media fresh or use an inorganic potting mix, and get to know the specific cultural re-quirements of the orchids in your collection.
A clean greenhouse or growing area will help minimize any potential insect pest problem. Re-move all damaged, molding or dropped buds, faded flowers, dead leaves and leaf sheaths from plants, and plant debris, old orchid medium, weeds and any debris that could provide shelter for pests from their surrounding area.
Orchidists tend to be acquisitive in nature, but overcrowded plants allow pests and disease to spread through a collection much more quickly than those given adequate growing space.
Check each plant (for smaller collections) or spot-check plants or groups of plants (in larger collections) and the growing area at least once a week for signs of pests and disease. This way, an invading insect can be detected and treated before it becomes an infestation. Inspect around growing leads, check leaf edges, undersides and crevices, and examine visible roots and root tips. If pests are found, immediately isolate the affected plant or plants to prevent spread.
To minimize risks of developing a treatment-resistant pest population, change methods and chemicals occasionally; do not use the same chemical mix more than three to four times se-quentially. For example, if an insecticide was used for previous treatments, switch to an oil, soap or different insecticide. Regardless of the method or chemical used, remain vigilant and expect to make three to four applications at seven- to 10-day intervals to kill successive genera-
tions.
When using any new pest control product, try it on a small area of the plant first, to make sure that there will be no harmful side effects, and test any treatment on a small population of plants before widespread use.
To prevent burning of tissues, never apply any liquid pest-treatment in direct sunlight or high heat (over 85 F [29 C]), and always shade plants until the solution dries.
Noninsecticidal treatments may not be highly effective for eliminating pests, and should be used as controls, not eradicators. Also, many common home chemicals are extremely toxic to humans, pets, and plants even in diluted forms, some more so than insecticides.
For a plant showing signs of serious decline from pest or disease, consider whether the low
likelihood of rejuvenating the plant justifies the expense and effort of continued treatments.
Destruction of a sick plant can be used to justify the purchase of a new and healthier one.
Susan Jones was the editor of Awards Quarterly and assistant editor of Orchids. American Orchid Society, 16700 AOS Lane, Delray Beach, Florida 33446 P H O T O O F T H E W
E E K
Broughtonia sanguinea var. aquini 'Elizabeth Cardozo'' AM/AOS
This week's update contains four plants that were awarded at Florida-Caribean judging for May
and a few flowers that are still provisional; the hybrids have not yet been registered.
In the past thirty years or so, fine, colorful forms of Broughtonia sanguinea have shown up on
judging tables. Line breeding one-of-a-kind forms, such as this var. aquinii, has improved
flower quality substantially. This example was echibited by Bredren Orchids.
CYMBIDIUM 1st Cym. Madidum
G & G Stelzner
DENDROBIUM 2nd Den. Aussie Chip
EPIDENDRUM 1st Enc. Randii
K & M Lovelady
1st Epi. Parkinsonianum
G & G Stelzner
CATTLEYA Gold Laelia purpurata semi alba
G & G Stelzner
1st BLC Prada Green Deluxe NN
John Delfino
1st Cat. Green Emerald Queen
Tom Buchanan
1st LC Rojo x Schom. Exatla
Tom Buchanon
2nd LC Tripical Sunrise x LC Aussie Sunset
Tom Buchanan
ONCIDIUM/ODONT.
1st Wils. Pacific Perspective ‘Pacific Heat’
Ed Sarrafian
1st Wils. Golden Afternoon
Ed Sarrafian
1st Onc. Papillio Mendenhall ‘Hildos’
G & G Stelzner
2nd ODCDM Tigerbutter x Oda. Roster Red
Ed Sarrafian
2nd Onc. Jiuhbao Gold
Ed Sarrafian
2nd Onc. Wildcat, white lip
Summer Lieu
OUTDOOR GROWN
Gold Zygo. Makyii ‘Jumping Jack’
Tom Buchanan
1st Lyc. schilleriana x Lyc. lassioglossa ‘Fieldcrest’
Ed Sarrafian
2nd Zygo. Jumping Jack ‘Big Ben
Birute Vileisis
MINI SPECIES
Gold Max. Tenuifolia ‘Waterfield’
Ed Sarrafian
2nd Max. Pachphylla
Ed Sarrafian
PHALAENOPSIS 2nd no name
Summer Lieu
2nd Phal. Brother Sara Gold
G & G Stelzner
2nd No Name
Summer Lieu
PAPHIOPEDALUM Gold Paph. hirtzii x Paph. calurum
K&M Lovelady
1st Phrag. Mem. Garren Weaver ‘Ghost’
K & M Lovelady
1st Paph. delenatii
G & G Stelzner
2nd Phrag. Demetria
K & M Lovelady
ANGRAECOIDS Gold Aerangis Elro
Birute Vileisis
OTHER Gold Ansellia Africans ( continued on page 6)
PLANT FORUM RIBBON AWARDS 19 May 2015
Judge: Tom Buchanan, Scott Barth
Please mark your calendars and save the date:
Saturday, June 13, 2015.
Orchid Digest Speakers’ Day:
Orchid Potpourri Ahmanson Classroom in the Botanical Center at the
Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA
